


Rules For Survival

by archivedaccount27953



Category: Kagerou Project, Mekakucity Actors
Genre: Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Past Child Abuse, the mekatrio struggling to adjust to having a safe home asmr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-08
Updated: 2019-08-08
Packaged: 2020-08-12 23:35:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20164480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/archivedaccount27953/pseuds/archivedaccount27953
Summary: When they left the office, Seto grinned and grabbed both his hands. "Isn't it great?! We get to stay together now!! We're gonna be a real family!!""It's not great… Don't look so happy," Kano grumbled before he could stop himself.Seto's face fell like a bird struck in the face by a frisbee. "Huh?"Sighing, he kept one hand holding his now brother's and led him in the direction of their room. "Come on, Seto, I've got a lot I have to teach you about family."---Kano and Kido attempt to prepare Seto for the horrors of having a family only to learn maybe they weren't as ready as they thought themselves.





	Rules For Survival

Truthfully, Kano hadn't wanted to be adopted. Why anyone at the facility was so eager to go back to the tedious life of having a mother or father again was beyond his comprehension. 

Sure, he hated living at the facility. The staff were troublesome and called him by a name he hated and insisted on berating him for the most tedious things. The other children were afraid of him as if he weren't the one in danger here and thusly avoided and tormented him. Any attempts at silencing the rumors of monster or making peace with anyone just made things worse. 

Despite that, it was still better than having a family. They weren't supposed to hit him and yelling was met with glares from other staff members. Torment was limited to rumors and bullying which was at least something that could be ignored unlike a slap to the face. 

For the past few days, he had been in a constant state of worry, in fact, for parent-related reasons. 

Kido was being adopted, by a couple they'd apparently met with twice and forgotten about, and he couldn't stand the thought of it. Maybe she hated him now— like she'd said before in their last fight— but the thought of her alone with a family and powers thrown into the mix was painful for him. 

She could take care of herself, he reasoned. She knew what it was like to have a family if her house engulfed in the flames of her father's anger were any indication. He knew that but she hadn't had her powers then. What if they scared her so bad she disappeared for a while, where would she go while she was invisible and alone and miles away from him and Seto? 

In general, even if she was bossy sometimes and a little mean, the thought of her being pushed around by her new parents and hit by them made him feel ill. 

He wanted to talk to her about this, to reason with her and stop her from going somewhere without them, but she told him never to speak to her again and that was it. 

He knew it was too late for her and yet here he sat, staring at the staff member that had explained the situation to them that the couple wanted to adopt the two of them too. 

And now Kano felt so ill he could pass out the moment he stood up from his chair. The thought of being in that position again, having an adult that had complete power over him to do whatever they wanted, scared him more than he cared to admit. He'd missed his mom initially, sure, but a year had passed and with it his fear of her. He didn't know if he could ever return to those feelings. 

He briefly considered accepting for the chance to help Kido but she hated him and wouldn't want his help, he was sure of that. Besides he could never leave Seto alone at this place and the thought of Seto having parents was laughable. He'd die in the first week, Kano was sure of it because no one wanted a crybaby. 

"I accept!" 

When Seto happily exclaimed this, Kano nearly fell out of his chair. Had his friend really just said he'd go? 

"Ah...Seto...uhh…" Kano tried to stare at him in a way that suggested they discuss this first but Seto's eyes were their normal color and full of innocent longing. 

Well, of course, the kid that never had a family to begin with would want one. 

Kano swallowed hard and wondered if Kido could keep Seto alive if they went together. The idea was doubtful all things considering. Not only this but the feeling of loneliness that consumed him before coming to this place and meeting them wasn't one he wanted to slip back into either. 

He sighed then; it looked like he couldn't win. 

"I accept too." 

When they left the office, Seto grinned and grabbed both his hands. "Isn't it great?! We get to stay together now!! We're gonna be a real family!!" 

"It's not great… Don't look so happy," Kano grumbled before he could stop himself. 

Seto's face fell like a bird struck in the face by a frisbee. "Huh?" 

Sighing, he kept one hand holding his now brother's and led him in the direction of their room. "Come on, Seto, I've got a lot I have to teach you about family." 

When they got to their room it appeared to be empty. Of course, Kido could still be there somewhere but he couldn't be bothered to check for her. Instead, he brought Seto over to his bed and sat down next to him. 

"So what were you going to teach me?" 

"Well," he let go of his hand and let it rest on the bed. "How to survive." 

… 

Survival lessons took up the rest of the time they lived at the facility. 

Kano didn't rest until he'd exhausted himself exploring every possibility. He taught his brother how to avoid being hit, how to patch himself up in case it was inevitable, how to sneak food into his room when he was being starved, and how to apologize in the way adults seemed to like. They discussed escape methods in case their powers were found out and even though she wasn't talking to Kano directly, Kido added input of her own for said plans because they included her too. 

Initially, Seto had started crying because all this talk about avoiding getting hurt and acting like his new parents would be enemies to him scared him but Kano snapped at him that this was no good too. Parents always got mad when their kid cried, didn't they? 

Eventually, they'd exhausted themselves doing everything they could whilst still at the facility and finally, the day came when they would leave for good. 

That morning, Kano woke up crying out from a nightmare. His roommates were used to this by now and respectfully ignored his pathetic whimpering as he choked back tears and composed himself. He could pretend he wasn't having a nightmare about his mom but he knew there was no point in it. 

This nightmare was worse though because she had taken the role of a villain. In the nightmare, they'd left the facility but gone to his old apartment instead. At first, things had gone by okay but then he'd made his mom mad. Instead of hitting him she'd turned to his siblings and… 

Shuddering then, he shook his head and decided that he wasn't going to think about that now. He knew it wasn't good of him but not for the first time in the past year he was glad that she was dead. 

He was the first one to get all his stuff packed and, maybe as a peace offering, Kido offered to help Seto pack his things. She still wasn't talking to him but he was okay with that for now, at least this was better than outward hostility. 

Honestly, he'd briefly worried that she'd find ways to get him in trouble on purpose but then he'd realized that she was too good a person for that even if she hated him. She didn't talk about her old life much but he knew when it came to parents they had more or less been in the same boat. 

Even when she'd been furious and said she hated him, she wouldn't raise a hand to him. Sure, getting their new parents to do it is a different story but he thought that was just as bad. Besides, Kido might be able to go invisible but she wasn't subtle either most of the time. If she'd tried to do that they'd surely notice and she'd be in trouble too. 

Anyway, he had time to spare and was just finishing carving his last message into the wall next to his bed when Kido told them it was time to go and left. Seto tapped Kano on the shoulder and when he turned around, Seto was crying. 

"Kano, I'm scared." 

For once, Kano didn't feel like snapping at him. After all, he was scared too. Instead, he hugged the other gently and held his head against his shoulder. "We'll be okay, leave it to me, okay?" 

Seto nodded and hugged him back tightly. "Okay." 

*** 

The night after their first day at the Tateyama's, with Kido reluctantly talking to him again and even insisting on staying in the same room as them still, the three of them gathered for the first of their new meetings. 

Kano was leading like always while Seto and Kido laid in bed sleepily. He paced the length of his bed and gestured dramatically. "I think having big sis here changes everything." 

"Do you think we can trust her?" Kido asked incredulously; Kano never trusted anyone initially. 

"Well...No. But she can be the example we follow to victory!" He flopped down onto his bed to sit, feeling worn out from the pacing and bouncing a few times. "She must know how to survive here, she's not bruised and she doesn't seem scared of them...so she must have a secret!" 

He suddenly remembered that day in the park. Hadn't she said she was working on a special move? Was it as simple as playing dead around her parents maybe? The thought was doubtful but their new parents did seem kinda strange so maybe it would work. He'd have to try and ask her once he could secure her trust. 

"I guess…" Kido frowned, she evidently felt mixed feelings about Ayano. 

Kano had heard that she'd had an older sister she was close with but he'd never really had siblings until now so he couldn't exactly understand the feeling. The only person he had to miss was his former guardian's housekeeper and that wasn't exactly relevant because she was still alive and the Tateyamas didn't hire a housekeeper so it's not she was being replaced. 

"Anyway, I have the most experience with moms so I'll focus on miss Ayaka." He reached under his pillow and retrieved a small journal. "I don't have that many pages left but I'll keep track of everything in this! What she likes, what she dislikes, how hard she hits, everything we'll need to know about her." 

Kido nodded. "I guess if you've known one dad you know them all...I'll figure Mr. Tateyama out and report back." 

He was feeling cheered, hopeful even, but then Seto began crying again and he frowned. Was he cracking under the pressure already, it hadn't even been a full twenty-four hours yet. 

"What's wrong, Seto?" 

"I always wanted a mom and dad but now you guys are making parents sound awful." 

Kano's face softened a little but all he could do was stare because parents were awful, weren't they? Even if this new family seemed nice he knew that was impossible. Parents hurt their kids, for their own good, to relieve stress, and to teach them things. 

Though it was funny, all he ever learned from it was how to be scared of authority figures. He didn't learn to be better he just learned how to avoid getting hurt again. The system wasn't very efficient but wasn't it natural to parents? 

"It's okay," Kido muttered as she nuzzled her pillow. "I won't let them hit you and if they yell at you I'll yell back." 

"Kido…" Kano didn't have the heart to point out that attitude would be their downfall here, instead just saying her name in warning. 

When Seto began to cry harder, they realized too late his eyes were red. 

Sighing, Kano got his blanket and pillow and came to lay down next to his brother and against the wall. 

"What are you doing?" Seto asked curiously. 

"We'll keep you safe, I promise… And if they're mean to you, we'll be your family instead, so don't be sad okay?" 

When two red irises stared and searched for the lie only to find conviction, he nodded and hugged his brother tightly. "Okay, thank you." 

***

Two weeks had gone by and not a single incident had happened. 

They hadn't been hit, no one had been yelled at, and they hadn't gotten angry at Seto the times he'd lost his composure and cried in front of them. Despite how carefully he and Kido studied their parents they couldn't find their fuses, they couldn't figure out when things were going to end badly. 

Then, something did happen. Ayano got grounded for something. 

There hadn't been a big fight over it and he didn't even know what it was over but she was grounded from certain activities for a few days. Assuming that he knew this experience, and because he was fond of her, he'd used his ability to sneak both arms full of snacks out of the pantry and after checking to be sure no one was looking, he knocked on her door with his knee. 

"Who's there?" 

"Uhh, Kano!" He called out as softly as possible. 

A few moments later, she opened the door and ushered him in. "Hello!" 

They'd interacted many times in the past two weeks and Kano felt on good terms with her even though they weren't particularly close yet Because of this, he felt comfortable leaving a simple hi before shutting the door behind him and deactivating his power when she had her back turned to him. 

She turned around then and blinked, clearly wondering if his arms had been full before and she just hadn't noticed but not wanting to ask. "What are all those for?" 

"You're grounded, right?" He asked, keeping his polite smile up. 

"Yeah? Why?" 

He carefully set all the snacks down on the bed before turning back to her. "Well since you can't eat with us for a few days I snuck in what I could. Do you have any good hiding spots in here? They'd probably check under the bed, right?" 

She just blinked at him. "Huh?" 

"Eh…" Suddenly he felt anxious. 

Had she already thought of this, perhaps? Maybe her parents counted items in the pantry and would suspect her. Should he put them back? Was she angry at him? 

Keeping up his smile despite not feeling it, he scratched the back of his head. "Well...when you're grounded you can't eat anything right? It's like that normally so I just thought...you might get hungry is all…" 

At this, she only seemed more upset, looked like she was going to cry even. "What do you mean? Mom and dad would never make me go hungry would they?" 

"Are you sure?" 

When she began to cry and started to call for her mother, Kano flinched and quickly covered her mouth. "H-hey now! Don't do that! We'll get beat up if they catch us like this!" 

"Kano you're scaring me…" She wiped at her eyes and then looked him over, checking his arms and cupping his face. "Do mom and dad hit you? They-they'd never do that, right?!" 

He blinked. "Well...no. Not yet at least but…" He looked her over carefully as well. "Don't they hit you?!" 

"No?? They'd never ever do that!" 

"Never...ever?" He repeated in surprise. 

When there was a knock at the door, he jumped an inch and Ayano frowned, wrapping her arms around him protectively. "Who is it?" 

"It's mom, did you call for me earlier? Is someone in there with you?" 

Kano began shaking in fear then, realizing his plan had backfired. He'd only wanted to help out his elder sister, with the hope that maybe she'd return the favor to them later if needed, but now he was about to get pounded. He could feel it. First, he'd made his sister cry then he'd gone and made them sound scary that was enough to get hurt pretty bad right? 

Ayano looked down at him in concern and whispered to him. "I'm going to answer it," she let go then and went to open the door. "You'll see that mom isn't scary!" 

As soon as she let go of him, he did what he knew would only make it worse and hid under the bed. He knew it would only make her angrier at him but he couldn't help it. He sat there with his back to the wall and hugged his knees tightly, trying not to cry but he could hear himself starting to sniffle softly and his eyes stung. 

"Yeah it's just me and...oh...where did he go?" 

He heard the sounds of footsteps and then Ayano was leaning over and peering at him. She frowned then and stood again. "Oh...I guess I kinda scared him. Uh...Mom, can we go talk in the hall for a bit?" 

"Yeah we can," Ayaka finally answered, before raising her voice just a little. "We're leaving now, okay? You can come out when you're ready." 

When they left he stayed under the bed for a few more minutes, waited until he'd stopped crying, and then he ran back to his own room. 

***

The three siblings had been holed up in their room for several hours now. Kido was pissed off at him for trusting Ayano wouldn't rat them out and Seto had just now stopped having a panic attack. He'd tried to calm him down but he was panicked himself. 

What would happen to them now? Would they be sent back to the facility? Would they get hurt finally and would they have to run away? Kano kept reviewing the escape plans in his mind but none of them seemed to be working when he thought them through. 

Where would they even go? How would they keep themselves alive with no money and no home? He didn't want to think about it because truthfully he'd never been without a house to stay at before and the idea of pulling both his siblings into that situation just made things worse. 

When there was a quiet knock on the door, he flinched, Seto began to cry all over again, and Kido disappeared entirely but he knew she was still in bed. 

"Um...wh-who's there?" He choked slightly on the words but tried his best anyways. 

"It's Ayaka, is it okay if I come in and talk to you guys for a minute?" 

Panicking, Kano turned to Kido and whispered to her. "Hey, if you turn normal again we're done for! Turn back already before she comes in!" 

"Oh, I'll just do that then!" Kido hissed back at him. 

He quickly got up and felt for her, touching her arm and making her become visible again. He let go and she disappeared again so he grabbed her hand and dragged her to Seto's bed. "Hold her hand so she doesn't disappear, got it?" 

Seto was still blubbery from crying but nodded and held her hand. 

When they heard another knock, Kano winced. "Just a second, ma'am!" 

He bounded over then and pulled the door open, flinching back in case she tried to strike him. She stood there solemnly before she managed a very small, very sad, little smile and stepped into the room before gently shutting the door behind her. 

"Please go sit down, okay, Kano?" 

He did as he was told and she stood in the middle of the room, looking at each of them resolutely. "Alright, so I realize now that I wasn't clear on the house rules, so I will go over them now okay?" 

They all tensed up, waiting for the trouble to come, but Seto managed an 'okay'. 

"First off, your boundaries are important to me and to all of us. If you don't want something done to you we're not going to do it, you're all entitled to your personal space and to interact with us on your own terms okay?" 

They all nodded and Kano's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. This hadn't been what he was expecting at all. 

"Okay good. Secondly, you're allowed to stand up for yourselves. That goes for all of you and that includes to me, you have full permission to tell me when I've done something to make you unhappy. I won't be mad, I promise." 

Now was Kido's turn to be confused, her eyes widened in surprise and she tightened her grip on Seto's hand. Seto's eyes went red. 

"Third of all, and most importantly," she started firmly, "We will never, ever, do anything to harm you physically or emotionally. We will never hit you, yell at you, or starve you. Not only are most of those things illegal but damn it, we care about you and I personally, will fight anyone who taught you those behaviors were normal." 

She swiped at her eyes then and managed a sad smile. "I'm your mom so it's my job above all else to keep you safe, so you don't have to be scared anymore, okay?" 

They all were too surprised to answer but managed a nod so she looked to each of them. "Any questions?" 

Seto found his voice first and surprised all of them. "Can I hug you?" 

"Yes, of course, Seto." She came over and hugged him carefully and when he let go of Kido's hand, she lifted him up and held him effortlessly as she turned to his siblings. "Any other questions?" 

Kano thought he ought to have questions but suddenly he wasn't sure. If the things his mother did to him weren't normal what did that mean about her exactly? What did that say about him? Finally, he raised his hand. 

"Yes?" 

"What do you do if we're bad?" 

She took a breath. "Well, that depends on what you do but most likely we will scold you and teach you better behavior. If you already know you did something bad you might get grounded like your sister but nothing important will ever be taken from you okay?" 

He nodded then, thinking that sounded incredibly too easy but not wanting to push it. "Okay." 

She looked to Kido then but their sister only shook her head and gripped the blanket so Ayaka nodded. "Okay, I'm glad we got that covered. I'm going to go make dinner now but if you need anything at all, ask me okay?" 

The three of them nodded and Seto clung to her shirt. "Please don't go…" 

Kano and Kido exchanged a look, thinking their brother was certainly trying his luck but their mother only nodded. "Would you like to come help, sweetheart?" 

He nodded. "Yes please." 

She smiled and started to pet his hair before turning to the two of them and telling them she'd come get them when she was done. Then she carried him from the room. 

The two of them exchanged glances then, all their survival plans suddenly tossed out the window. 

Kano took a breath and let it go again. "Do you think we can trust her?" 

"Seto seems to think so and his eyes were red." 

He nodded then, his shoulders finally relaxed. "I think...we might not have as hard a time here." 

"Whatever," Kido grumbled but even she looked more relieved as she returned to her bed and hid her face in her pillow.

They'd have to wait and see.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Just adding this note before anyone can ask about it about the (minor) canon divergence here so I'll address it real quick. 
> 
> * I know throughout the series Kido is shown as hitting Kano a lot however I think, personally, the fact that this is used for comedy and Kano is a known abuse survivor is disgusting and have erased that part of canon on purpose. Kido is a good sibling and would never hit them even lightly. If you're wondering why this is a big deal I implore you to evaluate things in your own family if it's something you've experienced and if it is not that you evaluate your empathy/sympathy for abuse survivors experiences with media and how it differs from your own.   
* Kano briefly mentions that he misses his former guardians' housekeeper, there wasn't a character like that in the novel that goes over his backstory but she's an OC of mine and basically raised him during that time. I might write something for her later but it's not too important currently.   
*The reason that Ayano calls Kano by that and not Shuuya is because I headcanon the mekatrio as all being trans and they haven't picked out their names yet and because their family is aware that they don't want to be called by their deadnames they just use their surnames still as they did at the facility. 
> 
> Anyway, that's all I wanted to cover, thanks for reading!


End file.
